Aum Sri Sai Ram Technical Musical Aspects of Bhajans

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Feeling the Presence of God – Through Devotional Mus ic Love Adoration Devotion

Aum Sri Sai Ram

Technical Musical Aspects of Bhajans

Dr. Paul Erhard

Sathya Sai Baba Centers North Central Region (Region 5)

Saturday August 30, 2008

The 18th North Central Region Sai Conference and Retreat 2

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Begin with a prayer: GANESHA SHARANAM, SHARANAM GANESHA


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FEELING THE PRESENCE OF GOD…

THROUGH DEVOTIONAL SINGING


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COMMUNING WITH THE INDWELLER OF OUR HEART


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“Educare concerns itself with one’s inner being. It relates to the Atma. Where is

Atma? It is everywhere. It is omnipresent.”

Sathya Sai Baba, August 6, 2008


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“In spite of his education and intelligence, a foolish man will not

know his true self.”


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Let us not be foolish people. Let us dedicate ourselves to

knowing and living the truth of who we really are.


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“A human being is the Embodiment of the Divine Self, verily.”August 6, 2008


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Sathya Sai Baba instructs us over and over again that the goal

of life is to know and experience our true self, to live in

Constant Integrated Awareness (CIA) of the truth that


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we are the Atma


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we are Embodiments of the Divine Self


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we are the essence that pervades and encompasses everything


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we are truly “The Peace that passeth all understanding”


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THE GOAL OF THIS RETREAT: To explore ways of using devotional

music as a means of helping each one

of us connect with and experience this

true indweller of our heart in a more effective way.


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“Bhajana Bina Sukha Santhi Nahi…. Peace and happiness can be attained only by

singing the glory of the Divine Name and not by wealth or worldly

possessions.”August 6, 2008


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How can we assess the nature of our singing to determine if we are

experiencing the indweller of our heart?


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“Bhajan has to be a thrilling experience, which must leave the participants full of pure energy and elevated enthusiasm.”

Sathya Sai Baba


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There is a secret formula for ensuring this thrill:


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GRACE AND EFFORT


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“Take one step towards Me, and I take a hundred steps

towards you!”


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Our EFFORT to move closer to God through singing from

HEARTS FULL OF LOVE is matched by God’s Grace.

God MUST respond with GRACE by moving closer to us with HIS LOVE.

We feel our love and His Love.


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“God is love. Live in Love!”We feel the thrill of connecting with Him, with Love, with thetrue indweller of our heart.


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We have to make the effort to intensely “Live in Love.”


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The greater the intensity of our effort, the greater will be the trill.


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The experience of being full of pure energy and elevated enthusiasm

is so incredible, beyond description. Overflowing with Divine Love.

This is the reward.


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GRACE AND EFFORT: It is important for us to believe the

truth of this formula, just like scientists believe

the formula E = MC2


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What we are really talking about is devotion


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“ Bhakti (Devotion) is an ardent prayer emanating from the cave of the heart in all sincerity and flowing in the form of a flooded river toward the Lord in the

form of love.”

Sathya Sai Baba, October 8, 1986


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IS LIVING WITH A HEART FULL OF LOVE

WHAT YOU ARE AFTER?


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That complete love of Mirabai, the complete love of Tyagaraja?


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DO YOU WANT TO FEEL

THE FLOODED RIVER OF LOVE

FLOWING TOWARD THE LORD?


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This weekend I want to share with you some ideas and strategies that are effective in helping me to be more fully involved and engaged

in performing music, both in singing devotional songs and in my

work as a professional musician playing my instrument, the double

bass.


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I pray that you find these ideas helpful for

benefiting and intensifying your experience of singing.


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Let’s begin!


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WHAT IS A

DEVOTIONAL SONG?


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A devotional song isa sacred poem set to music.


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Sacred poems deal with the spiritual realm of human existence

vs. secular poems that deal with worldly concerns

of the physical realm.


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THREE MAIN COMPONENTS OF A DEVOTIONAL SONG

1) WORDS 2) MUSIC

3) BHAVA (FEELING)


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1) WORDS of a songexpress some kind of communication

with the Divine


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“The most important aspect o devotion is

attaining love through LOVE. This love should not be only associated with love towards worldly things, but it

must be basically flowing towards a permanent entity

that is God.”Sathya Sai Baba, October 8, 1986


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Words of devotional songs express a variety of devotional sentiments

directed towards God:


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Love for God Praise of God

Adoration for God Yearning for God

Songs of thanks and gratitude Extolling aspects of

God which are dear to us.


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THE PURPOSE OF THE WORDS: To focus our attention inward

to our heart, the seat of the

spiritual dimension of life.


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GANESHA SHARANAM, SHARANAM GANESHA

Lord Ganesha, I bow down to thee.

This is a prayer asking the Lord to protect us and remove obstacles.


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2) MUSICThe part of a song that is the aspect of

singing.


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THE PURPOSE OF THE MUSIC: to amplify the power of the words

andbring the words to life.


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MELODY, the Bhajan tune, is comprised of

PITCH (Raga: swaras) and

RHYTHM (Tala: beats)


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2.a.) PITCH: The relative highness and lowness of

the notes(frequency, or number of vibrations)


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RAGA: The notes of a particular Bhajan are

derived from one raga (scale).


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GANESHA SHARANAM: Raga HAMSADHWANI:

sa re2 ga2 pa ni2 sa sa ni2 pa ga2 re2 sa


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To sing the swaras properly, it is necessary

to orient every pitch to

“sa.”


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Sing swaras with the drone. Good practice: hear the drone,

generate the pitch of a swara in your head first, then sing it.


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SWARAS (notes) of the song with equal rhythm:

s’ s’ n s’ s’ p g p s’ n s’ s’n r’ r’ n r’ r’ n r’ n p n r’ r’ s

g’ g’ g’ r’ g’ g’ r’ g’ r’ s’ r’ g’ g’r’ r’ r’ r’ g’ r’ s’ s’ s’ r’ g’ r’ s’ s’


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NOTICE: The shape of the melody. It mirrors something about Ganesh: The shape of the melodic line creates

an image of bowing down. The first phrase also creates the shape

of Ganesh’s elephant trunk. The 2nd and 3rd phrase build in

intensity by going successively to higher notes.


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s’ s’ n s’ s’ p g p s’ n s’ s’n r’ r’ n r’ r’ n r’ n p n r’ r’ s

g’ g’ g’ r’ g’ g’ r’ g’ r’ s’ r’ g’ g’r’ r’ r’ r’ g’ r’ s’ s’ s’ r’ g’ r’ s’ s’


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2.b.) RHYTHM: Refers to “when” the different syllables of the song are

sung in the continuum of time.


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COUNT and CLAP:1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4


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Add the drum, sing and clap


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D D . D D D D . D D D D D . D .D D . D D D D . D D D D DD D D , D D D D D D . D D D D D D D ., D D D D D D D D D D D D D D .


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PITCH AND RHYTHM COMBINED: sing and clap


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s’ s’. n s’ s’ p . g p s’ n s’ . s’ .

n r’ . r’ n r’ r’ . n r’ n p n r’ r’ s

, g’ g’ g’ r’ g’ g’. r’ g’ r’ s’ r’ g’ g’ .

, r’ r’ r’ r’ g’ r’ s’ s’ s’ r’ g’ r’ s’ s’ .


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THE POWER OF DEVOTIONAL SINGING


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“When all the participants in a bhajan(session) SING IN UNISON, what sacred vibrations are produced and what Divine

energies are released! When these vibrations fill the world, what

changes can they not bring about!”


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WHAT RESPONSIBILITY THIS IS!


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What does Swami mean by SINGING IN UNISON? Singing together as one

voice. The key is knowing when to sing what notes. The WHEN is

RHYTHM and the WHAT is PITCH


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In group singing, the most important element is singing what we sing at exactly the same time. This gives

power of intention.


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The ABC of excellent group singing is Always Be Counting the RHYTHM.


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This requires in inner counting. This inner counting brings life to the music.


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COUNT and CLAP: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4


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Always Be Counting


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When everybody is counting (feeling the inner rhythmic pulse) everybody can sing with confidence and power.


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Everyone can move forward like a Lion, rather than follow like sheep


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The Drum is our focal point toward which we all must orient.


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Always be listening to the drum to keep track of

the beat of the music.


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When we sing with confidence, the doors of our heart opens

automatically and we really get into the singing.


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Sing Ganesha again: count, clap, sing with confidence. BE TOGETHER!


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3) BHAVA: THE EXPERIENCE OF SINGING

WITH EMOTIONAL ENERGY


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“Man is also essentially an embodiment of love. Man’s love is becoming polluted because it is diverted towards worldly

things. It is not possible to get the reflection of the beautiful divine Lord in a heart

which is polluted.”Sathya Sai Baba, October 8, 1986


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“Bhajans must be a felt experience (not a mechanical experience). Do not sing

with one eye on the effect the song makes on the listeners and the other, on the

effect it makes on God. Let your heart PANT for God.”


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The Bhava is our feeling of sincerely praying to the Lord to protect us and remove obstacles that stand before us.

We have to make a great effort to focus and direct our attention and

energy on God, to focus and direct the prayer deep into our heart.


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Singing with this intense feeling takes us within so that

real devotion can happen:


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“Bhakti (Devotion) is an ardent prayer emanating from the cave of the heart in all sincerity and flowing in the form of a

flooded river toward the Lord in the form of love.”



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Intensity Of Love Intensity Of Yearning Intensity Of Adoration


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PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:PITCH,

RHYTHM, BHAVA


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Let’s open the doors of our heart and enjoy the thrilling experience,

which must leave us full of pure energy and elevated enthusiasm.


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Using our awareness of the aspects of Pitch and Rhythm, let us sing

together as a unified spiritual army of love.


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Thus, while putting in the effort to sing with love, we have to also be sure

put in the effort as a group toAlways Be Careful (ABC)

of Pitch and Rhythm.


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Be aware of singing together in Unity with those around you.


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Remember: The Drum is the focal point toward

which we all must orient our singing,i.e. to keep track of the beat of the

music.


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“Devotion (Bhakti) refers to wholesome and complete love.


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Devotion and love are inseparable.


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They are mutually dependent.”Sathya Sai Baba, October 8, 1986


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We have to force ourselves to sing with love, to feel that flow of the love

of devotion.


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GANESHA SHARANAM, SHARANAM GANESHA

Lord Ganesha, I bow down to thee.


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Our intention must be clear! We are praying to the

Lord to protect us and remove obstacles.

This is not a selfish prayer. We are praying to the Lord to

protect all humanity!


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SING Ganesha with heartfelt love, adoration,

and full faith

and…


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Remember!:Always Be Careful

(ABCof

Pitch and Rhythm


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“Bhakti (Devotion) is an ardent prayer emanating from the cave of the heart

in all sincerity and flowing in the form of a flooded river

toward the Lord in the form of love.”


Aum Sri Sai Ram Technical Musical Aspects of Bhajans

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